Mark Tucker

               Then                                          Now   

Home:    1687 Bent Tree Drive
             Abilene, TX 79602-5225

E-Mail:   tucker.mark@sbcglobal.net

Bio:

Following high school, I attended DLC, graduating in 1967.  Along the way – June 1965 – I met the love of my life, Barbara Wilson, while we were doing church work on Staten Island, New York, in connection with the 1964-65 World’s Fair.  We were married on March 22, 1968 in Nashville in the midst of an 8 ½” snow!

I was one of those people who could not stop going to school:  an MLS and an EdS from Peabody College and a PhD from the University of Illinois.  We lived in Henderson, Tennessee for the first 3 years of our marriage while I directed the Freed-Hardeman Library.  In 1973, we moved to Crawfordsville, Indiana where I was Reference Librarian at Wabash College.  In 1979, we moved to West Lafayette, Indiana where I joined the Library faculty at Purdue University.  I was at Purdue for 24 years, the last 12 years directing Purdue’s largest Library.  I retired in September of 2003 (how could I retire at such a young age?) to serve as Dean of Library and Information Resources at Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas. 

We lived in Indiana and worshipped at the same congregation for 30 years.  Barbara had enjoyed her work in an Orthodontic office for 21 years, so it was difficult to leave our friends and start a new life.  We enjoy life in Texas and we both feel richly blessed that I was given this opportunity.  Barbara is living the good life of homemaker, volunteering at a food pantry directed by Camilla Greer Becton, also in the ACU Library, and accompanying me on business travel.  In moving to Texas, we left a church family of about 350 and now worship along with about 2600.

When I completed the survey for our 10-year DLHS reunion, I answered a question concerning how many children we had with the word “zilch.”  One of my esteemed classmates thought that we had a son by that name.  Zilch means zero!  Rather than having children of our own, we’ve just loved and enjoyed our niece, two nephews and the children of friends. 

In our spare time, we enjoy traveling, antiquing, gospel music, watching NASCAR, the NFL and Purdue football and, generally, anything we can do together.  We were involved in a small group Bible study for many years and those folks became our extended family.  That group scattered but now has reunions at least every two years, all of which have been life highlights for us.  We have one parent still living, my Mom, Edith, who recently moved to a retirement center in Nashville, so our travels often lead us back to visit her and other family and friends.

Abilene is a bit off the “beaten path” but if you are ever going to be in this area, give us a call and we’ll give you directions to the house.  

Last updated:    February 2005